Upanishads · Mahā 3.33
॥
Devanāgarī
शैशवे गुरुतो भीतिर्मातृतः पितृतस्तथा जनतो ज्येष्ठबालाच्च शैशवं भयमन्दिरम्
Transliteration (IAST)
śaiśave guruto bhītirmātṛtaḥ pitṛtastathā janato jyeṣṭhabālācca śaiśavaṃ bhayamandiram
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शैशवे गुरुतः भीतिःśaiśave gurutaḥ bhītiḥin childhood — fear of the teacher; in infancy, dread of the preceptor
मातृतः पितृतः तथाmātṛtaḥ pitṛtaḥ tathāof the mother and of the father likewise; equally of mother and of father
जनतः ज्येष्ठ-बालात् चjanataḥ jyeṣṭha-bālāt caof people and of the elder children; of folk and of the bigger boys
शैशवम् भय-मन्दिरम्śaiśavam bhaya-mandiramchildhood is a mansion of fear; childhood is a palace of dread
Translation
“In childhood there is fear of the teacher, of mother and father, of people and of the elder children: childhood is a mansion of fear.”
Version
21aed79af1cb · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The survey of the ages begins, and childhood goes first — the time customarily remembered as the golden season.
Nidāgha remembers otherwise, and it must be granted: he remembers rightly.
The sources of fear are listed, and all of them are people on whom the child depends: teacher, mother, father, strangers, elder children. The child is small and has power over nothing; his condition is a constant looking over the shoulder.
The word mandira means “mansion, abode”. Not “childhood can be frightening”, but “childhood is the house of fear”.
Note why this survey is needed. A man searching for where in life it is good usually nods at the past: back then it was. Nidāgha walks through all the ages in turn and shows that it was good nowhere — we merely forget.